Fat Frog
Where: 384 Lilian Ngoyi Road, Durban
Open: Monday to Friday, 8am to 4.30pm. Saturday, 8am to 1pm.
With summer in full swing, the Secret Diner couldn’t face a slap-up lunch. Too hot and no time for an afternoon nap. So instead it’s the turn of the light eateries and coffee shops about town.
First up is the home of the bee-sting cake, that wonderful fresh sponge cake stuffed full of custard and topped with honey and nuts. It’s a cake that Durban has taken to heart.
Jenny Clarke and Claire Allan opened the Fat Frog in Morningside last year. It’s a tiny eatery, bakery and deli, with three or four tables on the pavement and a bar counter inside. And they serve an excellent coffee.
We chilled to superb cheese and herb muffins topped with lashings of butter followed by a slice of Clarke’s orange chiffon cake, coated in a rich,
dark chocolate ganache.
All in all, a great quick lunch pit stop
Ratings (out of five)
Food 4
Service 4
Ambience 4
Mark Gold
Where: 469 Innes Road, Morningside
Call: 031 303 4417
Open: Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Saturday, 8am to 1pm.
This tiny coffee shop that fronts on to a jewellery shop has been making winning coffees from inception some 15 years ago.
Initially it was only coffee but soon came smoked salmon on rye, and simple items like cinnamon and honey toast and egg mayo on rye, that could be prepared fresh in their postage stamp-sized open kitchen.
This week we needed an iced coffee and Mark Gold didn’t disappoint, with one of the few that actually taste of coffee and not milk or sugar.
We enjoyed our eggs Benedict on rye toast, covered with generous quantities of Parma ham and topped with a rich if somewhat mustard-heavy hollandaise.
We enjoyed a real Americano afterwards, taking in the charms of Mitchell Park over the road, and of affable restaurant manager and barista DC.
Ratings (out of five)
Food 4
Service 4
Ambience 4